Small Town Girl
by Avril Lambert
Summary: My name is Jane Porter. I'm 17. I grew up in a small town and always knew I'd leave it one day. Though I never thought I'd leave just before senior year and end up in an even smaller town. But ever since my mom died a couple months ago my life has been one unexpected change after another. So, here I am in Acre Wood. On the plus side, my neighbor is hot so I can't complain too much.
1. Chapter 1

"Well I was born in a small town  
And I live in a small town"  
-John Cougar Mellencamp, _Small Town_

* * *

Acre Wood has a population of exactly 600 people. Acre Wood High School has exactly 200 students total. Needless to say, it's a small town. One of those towns with more dirt and gravel roads than paved ones; where everyone grew up together and knows everyone else and where it's so small you can walk everywhere.

And, as of today, it's my new home. I'm not trying to sound like a stuck-up city girl or anything. In fact, I'm not even from the city. I grew up in a small fishing town on the coast of North Carolina. Like everyone, I dreamed of getting out of the small town; but I never thought when I left I'd end up in an even smaller town. And I never thought I would be moving just before my senior year started.

"What do you think of it, Jane?" my father asks me. My father; Professor Archimedes Q. Porter. The reason I'm here. He got a job at the local university; which is the size of Acre Wood. It's a great opportunity for him and I'm happy for him.

"It's quaint," I tell him. "Like in the movies."

He nods, keeping his eyes on the road and both hands on the steering wheel. "The dean of the university, Stefan, lives here with his family and he says the people here very friendly. His daughter is the same age as you, Jane. Her name is… Aurora, I think. Perhaps the two of you could be friends." He turns to face me just long enough to give me a hopeful smile.

I smile back. "That would be nice." I'm not exactly dreading this move or making new friends at a new school, but I'm still not sure exactly how I feel. On the one hand, it's a new place to explore and have new experiences. But, on the other hand, I'm not sure ready for more change.

My mother died over the summer in a boating accident, which sparked the need in my father to move. He had to be away from her hometown where everything was a reminder of her- especially boats. So, we came to Texas; no reminders of my mother and no boats. With my mom being gone so suddenly it was as if my whole life was suddenly something entirely new. I couldn't let go of her at first; I was desperate for my life to go back to normal. After more than a month of grieving, I realized I couldn't go back and I would have to roll with the change; whether I was ready or not. Just when I was beginning to get back on track, my boyfriend, Tarzan, broke up with me to join the Peace Corp. and then my father told me we were moving.

"But, dad, I start senior year in just a few weeks. I can't leave now," I told him.

"I need this, Jane," he replied, carefully sipping on his coffee.

"Can't I at least finish up high school here with my friends?"

I'm sorry, but I can't stay in this town for another year. We leave in two weeks."

"But, dad-"

"It's final, Jane." He set his mug on the counter and walked out of the kitchen. And just like that, his decision really was final and I began packing.

Now my father pulls onto a gravel road. We bump along for a short while, pass cute houses one would expect to see in a small town with kids running through sprinklers and swinging swings hung from tree branches. We come up to a house with a SOLD sign in the front yard. The grass is a beautiful shade of green and looks like it was freshly mowed. The house is white with copper colored shutters. There are two stories (well, three if you count the attic) and the roof comes to a point in the front. There's a covered porch and cobblestones form a path from the porch steps to the makeshift driveway; which is just two dirt strips running up the grass beside the house to the garage.

My dad pulls his car up to the garage and kills the engine. We get out of the car and carry our suitcases around the front of the house. My dad hired movers to drive the truck and even to unpack it for us, but they were an hour behind us. We step across the stones and up to the wooden porch. It's empty, but as my dad eyes it, I can tell he's already picturing our patio furniture on it. He sticks the key in the lock and opens the door. The house is also empty, which is somewhat anti-climactic; but what did I expect? Downstairs there's a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a den. Upstairs there are three bedrooms and another bathroom. The community areas of the house have hard-wood floors, the bathrooms and kitchen are tiled and the rooms are carpeted with rustic brown carpeting.

I take the bedroom at the very end of the all and set my suitcase down. There are two windows; one that looks over the garage and one that opens up to the slanted roof and has a view of the small backyard. The backyard has a fence around it separating it from our neighbors' yards. In the far corner there is a large tree with a tire swing hanging from it.

I start to turn away from the window, when something catches my eye. The house behind ours has a pool and right then a boy with a fit body and blonde hair is pulling himself out of the water. He grabs a towel and is facing my house as he dries off. I'm sure he can't see me, but I step away from the window anyway.

"Hey," my father says, knocking on my doorframe. "What do you think of it?"

I lower my head to hide my blushing cheeks and pretend I'm going through my suitcase. "I think I'm gonna like it here."

"I knew you would," he says.


	2. Chapter 2

My dad hesitates in the doorway, but then steps in. He looks around the room like he's admiring it or searching for something, but I know he wants to talk to me about something but isn't sure how to bring it up.

My dad used to be very animated. Wherever he was, everyone would just be drawn to his charisma. He could be a bit clueless at times, but so friendly. My mom would often say it was his eccentricity that first attracted her to him. My mom didn't like to be the center of attention, but my dad always was. When people would start to gather around him and talk to him, she'd step back.

I remember when I was ten we were at a Christmas party and she was standing by herself beside the fireplace, drinking eggnog and watching my dad tell a story about one of his students. He was moving around the room and acting everything out. I don't remember now what the story was, but I do remember asking my mom if she ever felt lonely standing by herself while dad was talking with other people.

She just smiled at me and told me, "I'm not lonely, Jane. Your father thrives at being the center of attention and I'm happy to be here watching him thrive and supporting him."

Now as I watch him scan my room with distant eyes, I wonder if he ever regrets not spending that time with her at parties and such. Does he ever wish he had spent every second with her, now that she's gone and he'll never see her again?

My dad finally looks at me. He has green eyes, whereas I have blue like my mom's. He once had brown hair like mine, but it's white now; making him look older than he really is. A thick white mustache sits under his beak-shaped nose; which I fortunately did not inherit. I have my mom's petite, somewhat pointed nose.

My dad clears his throat. "I, um… I guess I'll go make sure the water and power have been turned on."

I nod and he quickly walks away. I reach down to the bottom of my suitcase and pull out the spiral sketchpad my mom bought me for my last birthday. I still have an hour before the movers arrive and not much else to do, so I head downstairs and out to the backyard. The tire swing is swaying slightly in the summer breeze and I sit down on it, facing the house. I stare at it for a moment before pulling my pencil out of the tight spiral and flipping to a clean page.

I sketch the back of the house as I see it: the first story sticks out further than the second story, as if the previous owners had added an addition or converted the porch into extra space. The roof over the addition looks newer than the top roof; and it's this newer roof that I have access to from my bedroom. It glistens in the sunlight like it has tiny specks of glitter in it. I try to capture the glitter in the roof, but it's difficult. I draw my open window and the closed window a couple yards to the right of it. I sketch the sliding glass doors on the first floor that lead out to the yard. I draw the freshly cut grass and the fence encircling it.

"That's very good," a voice says behind me.

I jump, nearly dropping my book and turn around. The boy I had seen in the pool when we first got here is leaning against the fence and looking down at my drawing over my shoulder. He's now wearing loose basketball shorts and white t-shirt. His hands are dangling over the fence as he leans further against his forearms; he has a bottle of water in one hand with the label partially peeled off.

"You know what the yard is missing? A dog," he says.

"We don't have a dog," I tell him.

"The Fredricksens had a dog. His name was Doug. He used to run around the yard with their grandson, Russell." He takes a drink of his water. "This yard is perfect for a dog."

I nod slowly. "Well, like I said; we don't have one so…" I let my sentence trail off as I close my sketchbook.

"We don't either," he tells me. "My mom says she's allergic, but I think she just doesn't want to deal with it. I've always wanted a dog, though. Carl and Ellie used to let me come over and spend time with Doug whenever I wanted."

"They sound very nice."

He looks up at the house. "They were. Though, Carl certainly had is grumpy days when he got older."

I get off the swing and give him a friendly smile. "Well, I should get back inside. The movers will be here soon."

He sticks out his free hand. "I'm John Smith."

I shake it. "Jane Porter."

"Will you be going to A.W. High?"

"Yeah. I'm a senior."

"Me, too."

"Then, I guess I'll be seeing you around."

John nods. "Guess so. Welcome to Acre Wood, Jane Porter. It was nice meeting you- even if you don't have a dog." He smiles at me, then turns and jogs across his yard.

When I go back inside, my dad has the air conditioning running and it feels refreshing. As I cross through the house, I hear talking in the kitchen. I walk over to the doorway and see my dad leaning against one of the counters, talking to a man with black hair.

"Ah, Jane; there you are," dad says. "This is Stefan, the dean over at the university."

I smile brightly at him. "It's nice to meet you."

Despite his professional attire of a dress shirt and khakis, Stefan has a friendly and welcoming face. He smiles warmly at me. "Jane, you _must_ convince your father to go to the barbecue tonight," he says with a laugh.

"What barbecue?" I ask.

"Acre Wood's annual end of summer barbecue. It's at the fairgrounds not far from here. You could walk there." Stefan turns back to my dad. "It'll be a great way for you to meet everybody."

My dad looks at me and I just shrug. He sighs. "All right, Stefan; we'll go."


	3. Chapter 3

My dad changed his mind about going to the barbecue. Rather, he had already decided he wouldn't go even when he had told Stefan we would be there. I was still going, however. I was curious to meet other people from the town and hopefully make new friends before school starts.

The movers arrived shortly after Stefan left and my dad busied himself by helping them unload the truck unpack the boxes. I stayed in my room the rest of the afternoon to stay out of their way. Once a box of my clothes was unloaded from the truck, I threw them in the laundry so I'd have something clean to wear to the barbecue. While I waited on my laundry, I unpacked the few boxes that had made it up to my room so far; mostly more clothes that ended up in a pile at the bottom of my closet since my laundry basket hadn't been unloaded from the truck yet.

As it neared sunset, I prepared to leave for the barbecue. I wore a pair of faded flare jeans with a loose black crop top over a white tank top. I completed my attire with a pair of long, silver dangling earrings and my white Chuck Taylors that were dotted with bright paint-splatters.

When I headed downstairs, my dad was instructing two of the movers where to position our patio furniture on the front porch.

"Ah, Jane," my dad said when I stepped outside. "How does that look?"

The wicker loveseat was centered to the right of the door with the glass-topped table in front of it and the two matching wicker chairs were set up to left of the door with the small round table centered perfectly between them. My mother had picked out the furniture a few years ago and had them set up in these exact same positions on our back porch.

"They look great, dad," I told him.

He nodded approvingly, then looked at me. "Are you still going to that barbecue?"

"Yes," I said. Then quickly added, "Unless you need me here."

"Nah. Go have fun."

I started down the porch steps, but then stopped and turned back to him. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"I'm sure."

"I'll see you later tonight then." My dad didn't hear me. He was already back to giving orders to the movers. I continued across the yard and when I got to the street I saw most of our neighbors were all walking in the same direction. I followed them, assuming they were also going to the barbecue.

After we turned off the street, the fairgrounds immediately came into view. I could hear the distant music of a live band mixed with the excited chatter of the people around me as they eagerly made their way. When we finally got there fifteen minutes later I knew most of the town had to be there. The fairgrounds were spacious, but crowded with people. Large wooden picnic tables were spread out everywhere; most of them were occupied with families. Long tables stacked with food were set up under tents and surrounded by people. Some people, however, were gathered near the make-shift stage where the band was performing. The band members all seemed to be in their forties; the lead singer was a woman with big blonde hair and a voice to match. She was currently belting out the chorus of a Shania Twain song while stomping her foot to the beat.

"Jane, you made it," Stefan said, coming up beside me; seemingly from nowhere. He was still wearing the same polo t-shirt from earlier, but exchanged his dress pants for khaki shorts. There was a gorgeous woman next to him with wavy blonde hair, angular features and a slender figure. She wore straight-legged jeans tucked into cowboy boots and a sleeveless blouse knotted just above the waist of her jeans. Stefan turned to the woman. "Leah, this is Archimedes Porter's daughter, Jane. Jane, this is my wife, Leah."

Leah extended her hand to me. "It's great to finally meet you. Stefan is so excited to have your father at the university." She had a thick drawl and I could tell she had probably lived in Texas most of her life.

"He is as well," I told her.

"Is he here?" Stefan asked.

"No. He's home, helping the movers."

Stefan nodded knowingly. "Of course." He suddenly looked over my shoulder and waved. "Aurora, dear, come here."

I turned around as three girls my age walked towards us. I knew which one was Aurora immediately; she looked exactly like her mom. Aurora and her friends were pretty much what I pictured the girls here would look like. Aurora wore an ombre blue sundress that was dark blue on top and faded into white at the bottom with white ankle cowboy boots and sunglasses perched on top of her head. The girl to her right had curly black hair pinned up in a similar style as a 1920s flapper; she wore a blue tank top and a long, flowing yellow skirt with gold-colored flip-flops. The other girl had strawberry-blonde hair braided into low pigtails under a brown cowboy hat. She wore a red flannel-print top tied up above her navel with cutoff shorts and brown cowboy boots.

"What is it, daddy?" Aurora asked.

"Aurora, this is Professor Porter's daughter, Jane. She'll be attending school with you girls," Stefan said.

Aurora gave me a polite but forced smile that I was sure she gave all of her father's acquaintances. "Hello." She motioned at her friends. "This is Snow White and Cinderella."

I smiled at them. "Hi."

"Can we go now, daddy? I told Phillip I was going to meet up with him."

Stefan waved his hand dismissively. "Fine. But, I want you girls to make Jane feel welcome at school on Monday."

Aurora gave her father a disappointed look, but nodded in agreement before hurrying off with her friends. Stefan and Leah walked off without another word, probably to avoid having to make an excuse for their daughter so blatantly showing how much she didn't want to be forced to be friends with me.


End file.
